Cynthia Erivo’s journey into the world of Luther: The Fallen Sun began, fittingly, with a coat. As Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Odette Raine, Erivo dons a blue Burberry trench coat, a clear nod to DCI John Luther’s (Idris Elba) famous tweed number, which has followed him through five seasons of television and now, a movie.
“I loved the idea [that it] was like a mirror to Luther’s gray coat,” Erivo tells Tudum. “They both have their armor and that was hers. Finding out what a person walks in, moves in, looks like, tells you how they move through the world.”
Raine’s choice in outerwear immediately positions her as a foil to the rule-breaking detective. Practical, put together and a stickler for protocol, she’s not one to stray off the righteous path. That is, until her ethics are put to the ultimate test, and Luther’s unconventional methods suddenly start to make sense. Initially tasked with hunting down Luther after he busts out of prison to chase millionaire David Robey (Andy Serkis), this new arrival to the Luther universe must question her own definition of good and evil, and the uncomfortable in-between.
“Cynthia came in and really gave [Raine] some weight and body,” Elba tells Tudum. “She’s got so much power: her energy, her voice, her eyes, her conviction. She really brought [Raine] to life.”
Ahead of Luther: The Fallen Sun’s March 10 release on Netflix, get to know DCI Odette Raine.
It all started with a blue Burberry trench coat…
How did you first get involved in this project? What about it stood out to you?
I hadn’t played anyone like Odette Raine. I just loved the sort of sugar with the spice that she has. I felt like this was an East London girl who had learned to speak really well, which is close enough to me. I felt like she knew London, that she was sort of part of the tapestry of it all.
What’s going on with Raine when we first meet her?
Raine is a DCI at a precinct in London. She’s a mother who’s fierce and fighting evil with good. When you meet her, she’s very black-and-white. There’s a good side and there’s a bad side, no in-between. Unfortunately, John Luther is the in-between. I think she’s got him in her head as evil. This is a bad person, [a] bad police officer, as opposed to someone who’s encountering each situation and taking them as they come, sometimes handling it not the best way, but still trying to get the best outcome. But as the time goes on, she realizes that everybody has access to darkness and everybody has a choice about how they use it.
What’s striking about Raine is that she exudes power, but in a quiet, commanding way. How’d you bring that soft power to life?
Too often, when we see police officers or police chiefs on-screen and they’re women, they’re either very weak or they’re very strong and there’s nothing in-between. I was not interested in playing someone who was hard only, [and] I wasn’t interested in playing someone who would fall over if you blew in her direction. I wanted [someone who] was complex and different and a little bit difficult to work out. How does this person handle these situations? It’s way more fun to play a person who has power but really doesn’t need to push to get it. She knows she’s in power, she knows she’s in charge, and she doesn’t necessarily care about having to prove it. She just does the work and that’s it. What was really interesting is: how do you show that without being forceful?
How else did you make this character your own?
Style was a real thing for me. I wanted to make sure that she was a stylish person. We need her to be practical at work and whatnot, but I wanted her to be well-dressed [and] conscious about what she looked like. I wanted every hair in place, I wanted her makeup, her nails to be perfect. I wanted it to look like this person has spent time on her grooming before she comes to work. There’s no world in which a Black woman who is a DCI of a precinct is going to go to work without making sure that she’s completely put together.
Don't mess with Raine.
You alluded to Raine’s early negative reaction to Luther. How does their relationship evolve over the course of the movie?
I think she starts to gain an understanding of where he’s coming from and what he’s been through. She starts to learn that [he] isn’t an adversary or an enemy. [He’s] a good man who is trying to figure it out as well. Especially after she’s forced to do the unthinkable and is willing to do the unthinkable, when she’s also pushed to that brink when she realizes that she can be pushed. That’s a turning point for her. She realizes that she and he are not so different from each other. It’s just that he was pushed sooner than she was.
What was it like sharing scenes with Idris Elba?
He’s just so sweet. He was so patient. I felt like he trusted me with the world, [and] we just sort of locked in immediately, really. I knew Idris before I did the film, so we’ve been texting back-and-forth. We texted beforehand. We were texting during. He’s a friend –– it was fun to work with my friend.
With Luther: The Fallen Sun about to stream on March 10, what do you want people to know about the movie going in?
That you can watch it without having watched the series, that it’s thrilling and a ride-and-a-half. It’s one of those that will keep you locked in. Not for the faint of heart, but I think you’ll have a really good time when you watch it.
